1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for manufacturing carpet. Particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming a seam between two pieces of carpet during the carpet manufacturing process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the carpet manufacturing process, dye and weave defects inevitably occur and, unless removed, can significantly decrease the value of a finished roll of carpet. Following identification during the carpet inspection process, defective sections of carpet are usually cut out and removed from finished rolls of carpet. However, cutting out one or more defective sections from a carpet roll can result in short rolls which may not be as useful or valuable as full length carpet rolls.
Currently, short carpet sections are sometimes rejoined during installation through the use of manually applied heat activated or electrically self-heating thermoplastic bonding tape. However, while these methods of seam formation have been suitable for forming seams during carpet installation, they are not optimal for rejoining large carpet sections following removal of defective carpet sections during the manufacturing process. For instance, it is difficult to precisely align the edges of the carpet by hand when dealing with large sections of carpet, which can result in production of aesthetically displeasing, non-uniform seams which are unacceptable in a finished carpet product. Furthermore, the application of the tape to form a seam according to prior methods is complex and requires more work space and time to perform than is desirable in the manufacturing environment.
As previously mentioned, it is well known to utilize electrically self-heating thermoplastic bonding tape to join adjacent sections of carpet and to form a seam during carpet installation. In order to form a carpet seam, the bonding tape is positioned at the carpet seam and electrodes are attached at either end of the bonding tape. An electrical current is then passed through the tape to heat the tape and melt a thermoplastic adhesive layer. The electrodes are removed and the thermoplastic adhesive is allowed to cool and set, bonding the edges of the seam to the tape and to one another. However, while this method is useful for joining adjacent carpet sections during installation, it is not desirable to require carpet customers to pay for having a carpet installer use extra time and equipment to correct defects which could have been corrected in the carpet manufacturing process.
The use of electrically self-heating thermoplastic bonding tape to bond two adjacent sections of carpet to form a seam is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,525,233 and 4,610,906 to Brooks. These patents each disclose a method wherein carpet sections are adjacently positioned and joined upon a strip of electrically self-heating thermoplastic bonding tape on the floor to which they are to be permanently attached. However, these methods are adapted specifically to the formation of carpet seams between adjacent carpet sections during installation of the carpet on a floor rather than to the joining of two carpet sections during the manufacturing process.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for easily joining two carpet sections during the manufacturing process which will allow the finished carpet to be quickly and easily rerolled for delivery to the customer as a finished carpet product
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for easily joining two sections of carpet during the manufacturing process which allows a high quality seam to be produced both faster and easier than would be possible by forming the seam by hand.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for splicing a defective section from a carpet during the manufacturing process and rejoining the resulting carpet sections into one full length carpet which is relatively compact and does not require spreading the carpet sections out upon a floor.